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05/19/2005

Beer Lawsuits

I know it's only Friday, but here is some real beer news. Way back during the election I speculated that Pete Coors might find himself dealing with some lawsuits over that Molson merger deal -- quite a distraction for a sitting Senator if he had won. Well, here they come:

At least four class-action lawsuits have been filed against Molson Coors Brewing Co., accusing management of knowing about potential financial problems before the February 9 merger of Molson Inc. and Adolph Coors Co.

Adolph Coors became the parent of the merged company and adopted its current name. On April 28, one day after the Golden, Colorado-based brewer reported disappointing financial results, the newly formed company's share price plunged more than 19 percent.

In a press release, law firm Schatz & Nobel accused the company of violating federal securities laws by making materially false or misleading public statements. According to the release, the law firm alleged that "Coors failed to disclose that it was not operating according to plan in the first quarter of 2005 in order to safeguard its planned merger with Molson."

I don't know whether Pete Coors is actually a defendant in any of these cases, but even if he is not dealing with them would have been a distraction if he had been elected our senator. Of course, it isn't like he would have been spending time looking for a compromise on judicial filibusters or something. In any event, this isn't going to help him maintain his "successful businessman" persona in the unlikely event he ever tries to run for office again.